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American Government and Politics Today

Gabriel
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American Government and Politics Today

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    1. American Government and Politics Today Chapter 12 The Bureaucracy

    3. Presidents and Their Plans

    4. Models of Bureaucracy Weberian model Hierarchy Specialization Rules and regulations Neutrality Acquisitive model Monopolistic model Bureaucracies compared

    5. The Size of the Bureaucracy Today the federal government employs about 2.7 million civilians The two biggest employers of civilians are the U.S. Postal Service (almost 800,000) and the Department of Defense (more than 650,000) In recent years, local government employment has seen great growth, while federal employment has remained stable

    8. The Organization of the Federal Bureaucracy Cabinet departments Independent executive agencies Independent regulatory agencies Purpose and nature Agency capture Deregulation and reregulation Government corporations

    11. Independent Executive Agencies

    12. Independent Regulatory Agencies

    13. Selected Government Corporations

    14. Staffing the Bureaucracy Political appointees The aristocracy of the federal government The difficulty in firing civil servants History of the federal civil service To the victor belong the spoils The Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 Federal employees and political campaigns

    15. Modern Attempts at Bureaucratic Reform Sunshine laws: require agencies to conduct many sessions in public The 1966 Freedom of Information Act: opened up government files to citizen requests for information, in particular about themselves After 9/11, however, the government established a campaign to limit disclosure of any information that could conceivably be used by terrorists Sunset laws: require Congressional review of existing programs to determine their effectiveness; if Congress does not explicitly reauthorize a program, it expires

    16. Modern Attempts at Bureaucratic Reform (continued) Privatization Incentives for efficiency and productivity Government Performance and Results Act of 1997 Some argue that bureaucratic inefficiencies are the result of the political decision-making process Saving costs through e-government Helping out the whistleblowers

    17. Bureaucrats as Politicians and Policy Makers The rulemaking environment Waiting periods and court challenges Controversies Negotiated rulemaking Bureaucrats are policy makers Iron triangles Issue networks

    18. Congressional Control of the Bureaucracy The ultimate control is in the hands of Congress Congress controls the purse strings Congressional control includes: The establishment of agencies and departments The budget process Oversight via investigations, hearings, and review Still, Congress cannot oversee all activities of the bureaucracy

    19. Questions for Critical Thinking What could be done to eliminate iron triangles? In modern times, we tend to equate the term “bureaucracy” with “red tape” or inefficiency. How does the goal of neutrality and the need for specialization help reinforce those images?

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